


Open Up

by bluereadingdolphin



Category: Kaleidotrope (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/F, Fluff, M/M, harridrew i mean, not technically non canon?, oh well, they're married here!, this ended up being way more hal/sam than i intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluereadingdolphin/pseuds/bluereadingdolphin
Summary: "So y'all know how Professor Seabrooke (it still feels weird to call him Harrison, I'm sorry) always goes on about his husband, Cal? Well today I saw him and Professor Collins (again, I just can't call him Drew it feels wrong) walking around campus at lunch. And they were holding hands! Does this mean that Prof. Seabrooke is cheating on his husband? Is Prof. Collins in a relationship? He has a ring, right? Does anyone else have theories?"Sam finishes reading, and looks up at Hal."Do they not know?" She asks, grinning."Apparently not!" Hal crows. "Because Harrison insists on calling Drew by his pen name in public because it's cute or whatever, and Drew never talks about his personal life so none of the students know they're married."
Relationships: Drew/Harrison (Kaleidotrope), Hal/Sam (Kaleidotrope), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Open Up

For all its brochures declaring Sidlesmith the perfect place to find love, the University tends to be sleepy, quiet, and uneventful. Which is why Hal running into Sam's office, grinning brightly and waving her phone is a strange occurrence. 

"Sam! You've gotta see this, it's-" Hal pauses to take a breath. "It's so funny, you've gotta."

"How far did you run?" Sam asks, standing up from her desk. 

"Not that far - look, I don't teach  _ sports _ ." Hal brandishes her phone. " _ Look! _ "

The webpage Hal is looking at is the student forum - specifically the tab labelled 'rumours'. It's always been funny to scroll through - the fact that Sidlesmith tends to be a relatively quiet university just fans the flames of the rumour mill even further. This particular entry says:

_ "So y'all know how Professor Seabrooke (it still feels weird to call him Harrison, I'm sorry) always goes on about his husband, Cal? Well today I saw him and Professor Collins (again, I just can't call him Drew it feels wrong) walking around campus at lunch. And they were  _ holding hands!  _ Does this mean that Prof. Seabrooke is cheating on his husband? Is Prof. Collins in a relationship? He has a ring, right? Does anyone else have theories?" _

Sam finishes reading, and looks up at Hal.

"Do they not  _ know _ ?" She asks, grinning.

"Apparently not!" Hal crows. "Because Harrison insists on calling Drew by his pen name in public because it's cute or whatever, and Drew never talks about his personal life so  _ none of the students know they're married. _ " 

"We can't tell them." Sam smirks. "We should see how long this goes on."

"You're absolutely right. We should try and make sure they don't find out, even."

"Agreed. Uh, was there anything else you needed? I have a stack of papers I need to grade." Sam waves a hand at her desk, which is indeed piled high with papers. 

"We still good for date night on Saturday?" Hal asks

"Of course. I'm looking forward to it!" Sam briefly kisses her, and then both of them head back to their respective desks.

Harrison embodies a very specific kind of teacher. His students aren't inspired by fear like some of the others, but more by the horrible concept of disappointing him. His bright pink hair and generally effervescent personality make him well loved, and although he can be a little scatter-brained at times, people enjoy his lectures. It only takes a little prompting to send him off on a ramble about his wonderful husband, Cal, who he frequently describes as the most romantic person he's ever met.

Those who know Drew - or at least his students - would be inclined to disagree with Harrison’s assessment. He's not  _ scary,  _ per se, but he does have a legendarily sharp glare that can cause any student to break into sweats. He teaches creative writing, and frequently shares examples of his own work, and yet nobody (aside from Harrison, Hal and Sam) knows anything about his personal life. On some level, people know he and Hal are friends - because their subjects overlap enough for them to do joint lessons sometimes - but other than that, he's a mystery. He  _ does, _ however, wear a wedding ring, but it's on a chain around his neck and not on his hand, so even that is not a well-known fact. 

**_The sidlesmith student forum - rumours (archive 11/10)_ **

**_Rosa:_ ** _ okay y'all, so I have more news on the Harridrew conspiracy _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ ooh, do tell! _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ so I went to see Mr Collins about some advice I needed, and I walked into his office to find him and Mr Seabrooke just sat there, alone! _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ oh, that  _ is  _ news! _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ just wait, there's more. So I went to ask about a thing that's happening with Sabrina, my roommate, right. _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ you mean the thing with your planet sized crush and also having to kiss for the school play? _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ yeah, but that's not super relevant to the story _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ go on, tell us then! _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ so I asked Mr Collins for advice anyway, and he and Mr Seabrooke just sat and had a like five? minute debate while I was just  _ stood  _ there? But my point is, there's definitely something going on between them lmao nobody knows that much about someone's past drama career if you're not at least friends. _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ wait which one of them has a past drama career??? _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ ROSA?? _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ Sorry, there's just some secrets you don't tell.  _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ I can't believe this  _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ soz lmao _

Hal and Sam have known each other for a while, but it's only recently that they've become Hal & Sam, like a proper unit. Of course the students  _ noticed  _ when they started eating lunch together and arriving in the same car. Once, Sam wore Hal's leather jacket and got stopped in the hall at least three times. It's good though, for both of them. They've been having no end of fun laughing at what has been dubbed "the Harridrew conspiracy." Neither Drew nor Harrison has any awareness of it, which means that they have no context for the storm of whispers which begins any time the two of them are anywhere near each other. Usually, the two of them are pretty good at keeping their relationship under wraps but the students are examining their every move at the moment, so no matter what they do they can’t escape the constant sideward glances. The general consensus seems to be that the two of them are cheating on their respective spouses with each other - although people do agree that they make a cute couple. 

Hal and Sam became Hal & Sam over summer, when neither of them went out to see family and they spent a lot of time together hiking through the countryside. It didn’t take long for awkward small talk to disintegrate into hand-holding and conversations about nothing and everything at the same time. Both of them have reasons for teaching at a tiny school in the middle of nowhere, where the most exciting events are the lottery draws, but their relationship feels like something bigger, growing around them in a way that reminds them of home and safety. To some extent, it was Harrison and Drew that got them together (by going on holiday together to a bigger city, but Harrison will continue to take all of the credit for it). Either way, “harridrew” is the biggest proponent of their relationship, as though compensating for the parents who aren’t there to care. 

**_The sidlesmith student forum - rumours archive (08/11)_ **

**_Lovejoy:_ ** _ guys guys guys I have an addition to what rosa said before _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ Oooooh tell us!!! _

**_Lovejoy:_ ** _ right so Harrison is making us do that really weird egg project for sociology class, right? _

**_Rosa:_ ** _...thats a high school project?? _

**_Lovejoy:_ ** _ yeah idk why we’re doing it either. But I went to him to ask about changing partners and Drew was there again _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ Low-key hate seeing their first names lmao _

**_Lovejoy:_ ** _ harrison makes us in lesson, its a habit now ig. ANYWAY I had to ask him about switching from Stanwyck and he goes on this whole ramble about tropes??? ive never been so confused ghskhgs _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ that was kind of what he talked about when I asked too _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ weird _

**_Lovejoy:_ ** _ i mean Drew argued about it with him, but they didn’t let me switch partners in the end so that was a waste of time ghskhg _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ I can’t believe y’all discussed Harridrew while I wasn’t there _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ You might be stuck with the same partner but we have more information so who’s the real winner, huh? _

**_Rosa:_ ** _ Aren’t we all the winners in the end or something? _

**_Andromeda:_ ** _ sure _

“Harridrew” has been a  _ thing  _ for far longer than the students at Sidlesmith know. They really embody the perfect trope of highschool - well, college - sweethearts, who stayed together for the rest of their lives and died in each other’s arms. Well, they’re both still young and very much alive, but it seems like they’re never going to leave each other’s sides. 

It’s not that Drew doesn’t want people to know about his relationship with Harrison - if anything he wants to shout about it to everyone he meets. But old habits die hard, and he has to make an effort to let people in. It’s not like the students are really the target audience for his life story - what does it matter to them, anyway? And so nobody ever finds out about him despite his insistence that he’s trying to be more open. 

Harrison takes every moment he can to wax eloquent about Drew - although he uses the name that arguably got them together. It’s a story he tells as often as he can - falling in love on a radio show while Drew wrote a column in the newspaper without anyone knowing who he was. It was in his vows, actually. Drew’s were in the form of a humans of Sidlesmith column, which Harrison has memorised and regularly recites to people. 

And yet, despite their disgusting sappiness, the students are completely oblivious to the fact that they’re married. 

There’s nothing that really  _ starts  _ the end of it - just Drew finally getting tired of the glances and whispers, and going to find Hal at lunch.

“Hal.”   
“That’s me!” She answers, swivelling her chair to look at him better. 

“Why are all the students convinced Harrison is cheating on his spouse?”   
“Oh.” She says. “That.”

“Do I need to be worried about something?” Drew asks, pushing his hands deep into his pockets and fighting to keep his expression from fear. 

“Uh - no, actually.” Hal takes a breath. “They don’t know you two are married.”   
“They  _ what. _ ”    
“They think Harrison is cheating with you, because they don’t know that you two are married. Because  _ you never talk about it _ , I should note.” She raises an eyebrow, and Drew rolls his eyes.   
“First of all, that’s hilarious. Second of all, did you not want to tell us that? Harrison has been worried that his image among the students is going down.”   
“We thought you’d put a stop to it, and it was honestly too funny for that.” Hal shrugs.    
“We?”   
“Sam knows too. Look, stop smiling at me like that, I know I’m hopelessly in love.” She crosses her arms, and Drew continues to smile widely. 

“You should tell her that. Either way, where do we go from here?”   
“Up to you. Tell me when you’re going to do it though, I want to be there to watch all their dumbfounded expressions.”

Harrison finds it hilarious too, once Drew has explained it to him. They refuse to tell Hal what they’re planning, but make sure she’s sat near them for lunch on a very specific day.

It starts off when Harrison and Drew walk into the canteen, very visibly holding hands. Harrison gives Drew a kiss on the cheek as they sit down, and then they start talking, loud enough to be heard all the way through the canteen (which is suddenly very quiet). Hal starts live commentating what’s happening to Sam, who’s out on a trip and can’t be there to witness it. 

**_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ they’re doing it they’re doing it I’m so ready for this _

**_Sam (the love of my life):_ ** _ wait what’re they doing _

**_Sam (the love of my life):_ ** _ Hal!! You’ve gotta tell me!! _

**_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ They walked in holding hands and now they’re talking so loud that literally everyone can hear it _

**_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ OH they just mentioned that it’s their wedding anniversary there’s anarchy _

**_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ Some kid who I can only assume is andromeda just walked up and congratulated them omg _

**_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ They just kissed right in the middle of the canteen ewwww _

**_Sam (the love of my life):_ ** _ I’m so mad I can’t be there to see this :( _ _  
_ **_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ Don’t worry, I filmed their entire conversation you can watch it back later _

**_Sam (the love of my life):_ ** _ Perfect - I’ve got to go, there’s a crying child here. Talk to you later, right? _

**_Hal (the greatest girlfriend):_ ** _ For sure. Love you! _

From then on, Drew talks a little more about his personal life, and Harrison calls him Drew when he’s talking so lovingly about his husband. 

Hal and Sam stay Hal & Sam for a long time, and after a lot of pointed remarks by Drew she buys a ring and hides it in her sock drawer, to be used in some nebulous future moment. They have time, it's not like either of them is going anywhere. 

**Author's Note:**

> No I do not know what the title means. It came to me when I stared out of the window for five solid minutes


End file.
